Danté Knows has spoken out after Sticky Fingers’ recent “disrespectful” prank.
Band member Paddy Cornwall shared a now-deleted video (since obtained by Tone Deaf) on his personal Instagram that appears to show Freddy Crabs urinating in a shot glass and then passing it to an unsuspecting Knows to drink.
Knows quickly realises something’s wrong and becomes visibly upset.
He later posted an Instagram story saying he’s cutting ties with the band and will address the situation further.
“I’m done. Not putting up with that disrespectful shit. Especially from people I called my brothers. Cutting off the Sticky boys,” he wrote.
Sydney-based Knows, who is of West Indian heritage, is the latest to experience issues with the polarising band, which has a history of controversies, including accusations of racist remarks and violence.
Just last month, Sticky Fingers made headlines when frontman Dylan Frost faced court after allegedly stealing a discounted roast chicken and an iced coffee from Woolworths Metro in Haymarket, Sydney.
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Last year, they were removed from the lineup at Bluesfest following an artist-led backlash which saw Zambian rapper Sampa the Great and Melbourne rockers King Gizzard & the Lizard Wizard withdraw from the festival in protest. Festival founder Peter Noble announced then that Sticky Fingers would “step off” the lineup, apologising to those affected and acknowledging the ongoing scrutiny of the band’s lead singer.
“Bluesfest cannot, sadly, continue to support Sticky Fingers by having them play our 2023 edition, and we apologise to those artists, sponsors and any others we involved in this matter through our mistaken belief that forgiveness and redemption are the rock on which our society is built,” Noble said at the time, via a statement.
In 2021, Downing Centre Local Court heard of a fight between Frost and bass player Cornwall two years earlier in a Marrickville laneway near the Red Rattler Theatre recording studio. The pair were charged with affray.
Sticky Fingers went on a year-long hiatus after allegations arose in 2016 that Frost had abused and threatened musician Thelma Plum and her boyfriend. Frost publicly apologised for his behavior, citing alcohol addiction and mental health issues.
Frost has also faced accusations of shouting racist remarks at a gig by First Nations punk act Dispossessed, which he publicly denied, stating, “Rumours have been spread around suggesting that I’m racist. That is complete bullshit. I’ve never meant to upset Indigenous people within the community that night or any other time, but that is what happened and I should have taken the time to explain sooner. The whole band would never want Indigenous people in particular to think that we don’t have their backs. It’s hard to get accused of being something you’re not, particularly something you are actively against.”
Soon after the band returned to performing, Frost was allegedly ejected from a Sydney pub after a verbal altercation with a transgender person, in which he allegedly screamed and swore at her.
In a Facebook statement in 2018, Frost wrote: “I am wholeheartedly against racism, and so is the band … I do not condone or in any way excuse violence against women, straight up, I never have and I never will. I also have to acknowledge that my alcoholic behaviour in the past has intimidated or made people feel unsafe around me, and I am truly sorry for this.”
